Buffing wheel



L. B. SAX ET'AL Jan. 15, 1952 BUF'FING WHEEL 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed June 28, 1949 INVENToRs.

gmm 4 Jan. 15, 1952 L, B, SAX ETAL 2,582,506

- BUFFING WHEEL Filed June 28, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 IN VENToR.

Patented `Ian. 15, 1952 BUFFING WHEEL Leonard B. Sax and Thomas H. Kingsbury, Chicago, Ill.; said Kingsbury assignor to said Sax Application June 28, 1949, Serial No. 101,812

This invention relates to puffing and has for an object the provision of builing wheels and buffing sections.

In the buiilng art it has been the usual practice to form various types of bufiing wheels from a plurality of fabric discs or buing sections which contain a considerable quantity of unusable fabric in a central portion of each disc or section. That is, when a buinng wheel of this character has been reduced in size because of use, there is a substantial amount of useful fabric in the central area of each disc or section which has not been used and which is functionless except for the purpose of spacing the outer peripheral areas of the buiing wheel from the arbor or spindle upon which the wheel is supported. In order to remedy this situation it has been proposed in the past to prepare bung Wheels and buing wheel sections in which the fabric extends only around the outer areas of the wheel and in which the Wheels or sections are either centerless or provided with centers of Wood, stiff cardboard or other material. Bufiing Wheels and buing sections of the centerless type have not been entirely satisfactory, however, since no means has heretofore been provided for permitting them `to be readily mounted on a suitable arbor Without the use of auxiliary clamping bolts and other auxiliary securing means. A further difliculty with bufiing wheels and buffing sections of the prior art and particularly those of the centerless type is that often the wheels or sections have a tendency to disintegrate during high speed bun-ing operations and. obviously this characteristic is extremely undesirable.

Accordingly it is one object of this invention to provide a bufng section of the centerless type which may be readily assembled between a pair of clamping plates on an arbor to form a desired buiiing wheel.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a centerless buing wheel which will not have a tendency to disintegrate during high speed buiiing operations.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a bufling Wheel which has an extremely rapid cutting action and which at the same time is internally air-cooled in order to prevent the fabric of the bufng wheel from overheating during use. f

A. still further object of this invention is the provision of a bufng section which may be assembled with any reasonable number of identical bufiing'sections between a pair of clamping 16 Claims. (Cl. 51-193) plates on an arbor to provide a buing wheel of any desired size. Y

Further objects of this vinvention will appear from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

In carrying out this invention in one form there is provided a centerless bufling section comprising a at strip bent in the form of a circular band having inner and outer peripheral surfaces. Bufling means are secured to the band and ex.- tend from the outer surface thereof, and a plurality of peripherally spaced tongues or tab portions integral With'the band are provided which extend in a substantially axial direction from at least one edge of the band. These tongues or tab portions are positioned and arranged in such a manner that they are adapted to` engage the inner surface of an annular strip or band of a similar adjacent bufng section. Thus by the provision of these interlocking tongues or tabs it is possible to arrange any reasonable number of centerless bungsections in closely adjacent coaxial relationship and the tongues will hold them in this relationship on an arborfwhen they are mounted between suitable clamping platesa In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the annular band supporting the bufng element or elements may take the form of an outwardly facing channel, the side Walls of which comprise a plurality of radially extending tongues integral With the band. The bufng element itself preferably takes the form ofa strip of fabric gathered on a supporting strand or Wire and wrapped spirally within the channel in order to providea buiiing ring extending peripherally from the outer surface of the band. 'I'he radially extending tongue members may be separated lby slots and these slots may extend into the inner and outer surfaces ofthe band, thereby forming radial air passageways for cooling the buff when a plurality of the buiiing sec tions are assembled as a buiing wheel. As will be apparent as the description proceeds, it is preferred that the interlocking tongues or tab members for each bufng section be circumferentially spaced around the strip or band and that they be formed similarly to 'the radially extending, channel forming tongues or tabs. If desired, the axially extending interlocking tongues may be provided with inwardly bent end portions to permit the ready assembly of a plurality of the buing sections and the radially extending tongue members may be provided with suitable deformations in the outer faces thereof to cooperate with similar deformations yon the .tongues or tabs-,of

an adjacent section to insure that the sections when clamped together will rotate as a unit in the bufling wheel.

In the assembly of the buing wheel from the bufiing sections constructed in accordance with this invention, it is preferred to employ a pair of relatively heavy clamping plates between which the buing sections arefmounted. These clamping plates are also 'provided with a plurality of axially extending, circumferentially spaced tongue members so that an adjacent bufng section may be supported thereon by the engagement of said tongues with the inner surface of the ring or band of the section. 1ffhetonguesor tabs on the clamping plate are preferably struck or formed from apertures within the clamping plate, the apertures providing'smeansfor'permitting the circulation of air into the centerof the assembled bufiing wheel which may then be readily discharged through the above referred `to Lradial L-pa'ssa'gevvays 'between Ethe .bu'fling sections.

IFor a morecompleteeunderstanding of this viny`vention, reference lis .now V-ma'de 'to the 'raccompanying drawings, wherein Fig. "l yisabroken 'side rview. of a;buffi-ng wheel constructed -inaccordance2'with oneV embodiment 'offthisinventiom Fig f2 isa-partial sectional view of the =wheel `shovvnin Fig 21 mounted lon a s suitablearbor .or 'spindlefthellatterlbeing shown inv dottedlines;

FigI-Z isanenlarged-detail sectional View `of a bufting Lsection employed -in 'assembly of the `buff l'ingWheel-shown in Figs. land 2';

Figx'lfis adetail view with parts broken away -ofA the buing section shown in FigJB Vfligs and tifareperspective views 'indicating *the'mannerin which a-buiing fabric may be as- `sembled-'ona sutablestrand or wire prior tol'the Atime thatfitiiswoundonthe circular support band ofthefbuiiingsection;

1tiigj'l isa plan-view ofthe v'flat striplfor'supporting the"bufnglelemerit of 'thefbufling-section prior to* the vtime that the `strip-is vvformed into a circularband'or aneannulus "and Figs. A8 `-and f'9 are sectional and-elevational views, '-respective'ly, fof :the circular :strip v'for the y-buiiingsection man-intermediate stage of formation Withparticular reference vto iFigs. 1and`l2, the Vbiiiiing Wheel constructed-in accordance with one `'eiribodiment-'o-f this `invention -comprises a pluralityvof'centerless bufngsections llmounted on "anfarbor -I2-and secured thereto between a pair ``f`clamping-plates rI4. It willibenotedthat the l biiiiing'sections I Gare entirelycenterless in character :and are secured Iinrcoaxi-al relationship vby -rmeans offa pluralityof tongues or tabs Ylli-Which 'extend @axially 'thereof 'and funderlie the inner "surfacefofan adjacent buiiing section. The' buii- 'ing sections |-0 `are heldin-coaxial*relationship itofthe clamping-plates `v`l4'andithe arbor I2'fbY 'means of alplurality offtongue members I8 circumferentiallyespaced aroundeach of the clampingl plates 5I 4 and alsofengagng' the inner periphv"-e'ral surfaces of'vthebuing vsection :atveach en'd -ofthewheel assembly. The-'clamping` plates I4 each` include a centralf apertureZD through` which "-the arbor' |'2 extends. The f clamping plates are tightly secured tolthearbor'-IZandinrm eni L4gagement vvwith theibuiiing sections:!'by means *ofi suitable bolts 22 fthrea'dedf on= the arbor. lThe "clampingi plates I4r=`also include a :plurality of struck. 'lhe-aperturesv 24 provide means for vpermitting air to be drawn into the central portion of the bung wheel and discharged therefrom during the bufng operation in a radial direction between the buii'ing elements l0 and through passageways 25 formed by slots in the buiiing section hereinafter to be described.

With particular reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the Ybufiing section-of this invention in one form cornprises a `flat 'strip 26 in the form of a circular band having an inner surface and an outer surface. Integral with the strip 28 are a plurality of radially extending tongues 30 having roof -shaped deformations 32 and providing in cooperation with the 'band t28 .an outwardly facing annular vvchannel 34 which lis adapted to` receive the inner peripheral edge of a ring-shaped buflng element. ThedeformationsE in the tongue or tab members 30 may serve in part to prevent the relative `rotation of several buing sections when the same are mounted on an rarbor between clamping fplates. 'Certain tongue :members i6 circumferenitiallysspaced around the periphery of the strip or band 28 are bent in a direction substantially .axialfof fthe Abuing section and these tongues or tabs I6 are provided with an inwardly turned end yportion-3 6 ytoreadily facilitate the placement of asimilar bufng element adjacent thereto in the mannerindicated in Fig. 2. It Will be noted that theover-all lengths of tongues i6 are somewhat less than the width or thickness of the adjacent buffing element so that the tongues in coopera- Ation will firmly engage the adjacent buing section -but will not extend ,therebeyond In this vconnection it will be noted that two of the buing sections in Fig. 2 are shown with the tabs or tongues-I6 extending to the right. However, the buiiing section I!) furthest to the right has been turned over so that its interlocking tongues or `tabs I6 extend to the left. Thus noftabs i6 project through the clamping plates 24 although the apertures 2liV in the plates may be arrangedto receive such tongues if so desired. Itvwill be noted in/theembodiment shown that the right-hand .buiiingsection in Fig..2 is v the same as the center and left-hand sections and itis not necessary to havea special sectionat the end of the buing .wheel sincelit is only necessary to reverse or turn this one over so that the tongues project in the ,oppositedirection if it is not desired to have them extend through apertures on the clamping plate Referring backto Figs. 3 and 4, it will be noted that slots 38 are provided between the tab or tonguemembers 3E) and that these slots extend into the main bodyportion 28 of the annular band or strip. Thus, when a plurality of the sections are assembled into a wheel as indicated in Fig. 2, there are provided a plurality of openings 2S through which cooling air may circulate radially when the buiiing Wheel is in operation as above described.

`The buing element included in the buflng vsection as shown in the drawings comprises a plurality of layers of fabric, preferably cut on the bias, as well known to the art, and spirally wound in the shape of a ring or annulus. These layers are spirally wound around the strip 28 within the channel -34 employing a Wire or other suitable strand 4l! as a support. As indicated in Figs. 5 `and 6,it is preferable to secure a strip of folded fabric `42 in one or more layers to the wire or Vstrand'l by suitable stitching 44 and thereafter vpass the Wire and fabric through a gathering machinewherein the fabric 42 is gathered on the :wire-Min: the manner indicated in'Fig. 6. After vthe gathering operation has been completed, then Fig. 4) are looped about each other within the channel 34 in order that the bufling fabric 42 will be securely retained therein. It will be apparent that other means may be provided for retaining the opposite ends of the wire 40 but the method disclosed is presently preferred where the wire is suiii'ciently stiff to permit of securement by this means and where it is desired not to have ends sf the wire exposed on the side of the puffing secion.v

In order to form the annular strip or |buff element supporting means including the channel forming tabs or tongues 30 and the interlocking tabs or tongues l5, there is provided a flat blank of metal or other suitable material having the configuration indicated in Fig. '7. The tongue members 3G and l 6 are bent into the positions indicated in Figs. 8 and 9, tongue members IB being offset slightly inwardly from the main body portion 23 of the strip, and tongue members 3@ being flared outwardly from the strip at an angle of about 45 degrees. At the same time the roofshaped deformations 32 are provided in the tongues or tabs 3o and the |bent-over end portions 35 lare provided in the tongues I6. The thus formed strip may then be bent into the form of a band or annulus as indicated in Fig. 9 and the ends are secured as by welding or otherwise. Thereafter the fabric 42 gathered on the wire or other strand 4i] in the manner indicated above is wound about the outer surface of the strip 23 within the channel 34. After this spiral winding operation has been completed and the ends it of the wire 40 have been secured together, the tongues 30 are then bent into a substantially radially extending direction as most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Then a peripheral row of stitching 48 is applied to secure the several layers of fabric of the section together. rIhe resulting section is vuseful for assembling a bufling wheel on an arbor as previously described. 2 vIt will thus be apparent that a buing wheel section has been provided which may be readily lmanufactured and which may be easily assembled to form a useful bufng wheel. The sections and resulting wheel are extremely durable and the wheel is capable of a fast cutting action, it being noted that substantial means are provided for circulating air between the several lbuffing sections by means of the apertures 24 and 25. The buiing wheel has the further advantage that it does not have a tendency to channel or separate because of the spiral winding of the bufiing fabric on the several bufling sections. The deformations 32 may provide means for preventing relative rotation of the several sections about the arbor. However, the 'compression of the fabric bufiing elements when the sections are clamped together also acts in a similar manner.

While in the foregoing there has been described a particular means for mounting the Ibuffing elements adjacent the outer surface of the strip 28, it will be apparent that other means may be employed if desired. For example, the wire or strand 40 may be dispensed with and the fabric 42 may be clamped between suitable inwardly turned prongs or teeth formed on the ends of tongues 30 if desired. Likewise other means will suggest themselves for mounting the buiiing element or other bufng elements adjacent the outer surface 6 of this invention being the provision of a centerless buff held together in interlocking relationship by means of tabs or tongue members integral with and extending axially of a strip on which the buffing elements are mounted.

While a particular embodiment of this invention is shown above, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. A centerlessA buiiing section comprising an annular strip having inner and outer cylindrical surfaces, a plurality of layers of buiiing fabric gathered on a supporting strand and wound spi- Arally in the form of a ring extending outwardly from the outer peripheral surface of said strip, a plurality of tongue members extending outwardly from the opposite edges of said strip dening said surfaces and cooperating with said strip to form a circular channel within which said strand and said bufiing fabric are received, and a plurality of spaced tongue members integral with said strip extending in a direction axially thereof, said tongue members being offset inwardly adjacent their respective bases and providing outer faces adapted to underlie and engage the inner surface of a similar adjacent builing section. v

2. A centerless buflng section comprising a at strip in the form of an annular band having inner and outer cylindrical surfaces and opposing side edges, a plurality of closed spaced tongue members integral with said strip extending radially outwardly from said opposing side edges and having slots therebetween, said slots extending into the cylindrical surfaces of said strip providing radial air passageways for said bufng section, a supporting strand wound in the form of a spiral around the outer surface of said strip lying within the channel formed by said strip and said tongue members, a spirally wound layer of fabric gathered on and supported by said strand forming the buiiing element for said section, and a, plurality of spaced interlocking tongue members also integral with said strip extending in a direction axially thereof adapted to underlie and engage the inner surface of a similar adjacent buiiing section.

3. The bufng section recited in claim 2 wherein said rst mentioned tongues have outwardly extending deformations formed in the outer faces thereof adapted to cooperate with similar deformations on the corersponding tongues of said adjacent bufting section to prevent relative axial rotation when said sections are clamped together.

4. A bufiing wheel including a center arbor, a pair of clamping plates supported on said arbor, a plurality of centerless bufling sections each comprising a bufng element and a ring-shaped buiiing element support means having an inner peripheral surface spaced from said arbor, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members on said support means and said plates underlying and engaging said inner surfaces of adjacent support means whereby said plates and said sections are held in coaxial relationship on said arbor, said tongue members constituting the sole means in the space between said arbor and said linner surface for supporting said buffing sections.

.5. ,A buing- .wheel including ,a lcenter arbor, )a pair of clamping plates supported on said arbor, ,afplurality ofv centerless bufling sections coaxial with `said arborand plates and each comprising `an annulushaving an .inner peripheral surface spaced from said arbor and an outwardly facing peripheral channel and a ring-shaped bufiing elevment having its inner edges spirally wound and secured within said channel, a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members vintegral -with each buing section extending therefrom in an axial direction and out ofthe plane thereof upon which an adjacent annulus is supported on its inner surface, and a plurality of additional circumferentially spaced tongue members integral -.withreach clamping plate extendingaxially therefrom upon which an adjacent annulus is supported on its inner surface, said tongue members, comprisingthesole means in the space between said annulus` and saidarbor by which said sections ,areY maintained in coaxial` relationship l.onesaid arbor.

6. jThe bufng wheel recited in claim wherein said peripheral channel comprises a main body lportion in the form of a band and, wherein the sides of said channel comprise tongue members integral with said main body portion and bent intoa plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said wheel, said last mentioned tongue members having outwardly extending deformations projecting from the outer surfaces thereof interlocking to prevent relative axial rotation of saidA buifmg sections.

'7. Abufng wheel including a center arbor, a pair of clamping plates, a plurality of buing `sections each comprisinga buffmg element and a ring-shaped bufng element support means having an Vinner peripheral surface spaced from said arbor, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members on said support means and said plates for underlying and engaging said inner :surfaces of adjacent support means whereby said plates and said sections are held in coaxial relationship on said arbor, said tongue members constituting the sole means in the space between the Varbor and said inner surface for supporting said buing sections, said tongue members on said plates being struck from said plate to dene air circulating apertures therein spaced radially inwardly from said tongue members and said support-means having radially extending air passageways therebetween.

8.1Afbufng section comprising a cylindrical Yband Vdefining the inner peripheral edge of the section and having inner and outer cylindrical surfaces, a ring-shaped buirlng element forming the main body of the section and having its inner peripheral edge secured to said band adjacent `the outersurface thereof, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tab members integral with said band and extending out of the plane thereof in an axial direction, said tab members being cifset inwardly adjacent their respective bases and Vproviding outer facesadapted to engage the inner surface of a cylindrical band of an identical adjacent bufng section.

9. A centerless ring-shaped bufiing section comprising a cylindrical band defining the inner peripheral edge. of thesection and having inner land outer cylindrical surfaces, a ring shaped buffmg element forming the main VVbody of the 4section .and having Vits inner peripheral edge securedto said band adjacent the outer surface thereof, land a .plurality of `circumferentially spaced tab members integral with said bar id-v and ,extending perpendicularly out of the plane of said section, said tab members being offset inwardly vadjacent their respective bases and providing outer faces lying within the cylinder dened by the inner surface of said band.

10. A bufling wheel including a central arbor, a pair of clamping plates supported on said arbor, a plurality of buing sections each comprising a buffing element and a ring-shapedbuing element support means having an inner peripheral surface spaced from said arbor, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members attached to said bufng element support means underlying and engaging said inner surfaces of adjacent bui-Ting element support means whereby said sections are held in coaxial relationship with each other on said arbor, said tongue members constituting the sole means in the space between said arbor and said .inner surfaces for holding said sections in said coaxial relationship.

11. A buffmg wheel including a central arbor, a pair of clamping plates supported on said arbor, a plurality of centerless bufng sections each comprising a buffmg element and a ring-shaped bufling element support means having an inner peripheral surface spaced from said arbor, an annularly arranged buing section support means integral with each plate radially spaced from said center arbor and engaging the inner peripheral surface of an adjacent buifmg element support means, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members attached to said buiiing element support means underlying and engaging said inner surfaces of adjacent buffing element support means whereby said sections are held in coaxial relationship on said arbor, said tongue members and said buning section support means on said plates constituting the sole means in the space between said arbor and said inner surfaces for holding said sections in coaxial relationship.

12. The bufiing wheel recited in claim 11 wherein said tongue members are inwardly'oifset from the support means to which they are attached.

13. A bufling wheel including a center arbor, a pair of clamping plates supported on said arbor, a plurality of bufling sections each comprising a ring-shaped bufling element and a cylindrical bufng element support means having inner and outer surfaces adjacent the inner peripheral surface of said element, a plurality of closely spaced tongue members extending radially outwardly from said outer surface forming a buing element-receiving channel, said tongue members being separated by slots extending through said cylindrical, inner and outer surfaces providing radially extending air passageways, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced interlocking tongue members extending in an axial direction from each of said bufling element support means and underlying and engaging the inner surface .of anadjacent buing element support means 9 in said channel, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongue members also integral with said strip extending in an axial direction adapted to underlie and engage the inner surface of the strip of a similar adjacent bufling section.

15. The bufiing section recited in claim 14 wherein said last-mentioned tongue members are offset inwardly adjacent their base and present faces dening a cylinder coincident with the cylinder defined by the inner surface of said strip.

16. The bufling section recited in claim 15 wherein said last-mentioned tongue members have inwardly turned end portions to facilitate the interlocking engagement of said buing section with said adjacent bufng section.

LEONARD B. SAX. THOMAS H. KINGSBURY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,106,833 Painter Aug. 11, 1914 1,404,620 Sevett Jan. 24, 1922 1,922,108 Myers et al Aug. 15, 1933 2,099,777 Thomas Nov. 23, 1937 2,102,867 White Dec. 21, 1937 2,291,524 Best et al July 28, 1942 2,455,098 Seelenfreund Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 518,250 Great Britain Feb. 21, 1940 

